CITY COUNCIL ELECTION 1957
Following the adoption of the Rendel and McNeice Commission recommendations, Singapore was carved into 51 electoral constituencies, with 32 in the urban areas under the charge of the City Council that replaced the six wards comprising 18 elected seats under the previous Municipal Commission. The nine appointed seats in the Commission were scrapped. The approval for political parties to use a standard symbol in legislative elections were also extended to local elections. The 16 elected City Councillors with the best results would serve the full four-year term while the remaining 16 would serve two years before vacating their seats, which would be up for fresh polls. However, this never occurred as the City Council was decommissioned within two years in 1959. Among the incumbent Municipal Commissioners, several had switched allegiance over the last four years. Three from LP and two independents joined LF, linchpin of the ruling coalition in Singapore. Eight from PP were now part of the new LSP, formed by the merger of PP and DP. One each from LP and PP became independents, namely S. Jaganathan and Sim Beng Seng. Both were briefly with LF. Another two, independent P. R. Williams who was elected under LP and LF Minister J. M. Jumabhoy who was initially independent, had resigned from the Commission. With the exception in one ward, LF, UMNO and the main opposition PAP worked together to avert multi-corner fights in the face of a fortified LSP, which ran in all seats. Former Chief Minister David Marshall had quit LF and established WP, which fared well in its electoral debut and was to become a renowned opposition party in the decades to come. According to the official narrative, the pro-communists backed PAP and WP. As a result, both parties were close to winning all the seats they contested except one each. PAP came out on top in the race by securing the largest number of seats. When the Council was convened, PAP formed a coalition with UMNO while leaving out trounced ally LF. This gave them 15 seats and two short of a majority but enough to face a divided opposition. Ong Eng Guan of PAP was elected as the first Mayor in Singapore.
Nomination day: 18 November 1957 [Mon]
Polling day: 21 December 1957 [Sat]
Electorate: 504,291
Voter turnout: 165,404 (32.8%)
Election deposit: $250
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